i have a permently ileostomy, entire colon, rectum and part of small bowel removed. 1st off, the pouch you wake up from surgery with and the one you wear until you heal up is scary looking. Once you heal, you can choose a smaller, opaque pouch that isn't see through and can be folded in half and tucket into your underwear. When I was measured for the stoma, it looked pretty low below my waist. But the wafer is another couple inches higher so it was above my waist and showed above my jeans. I had it done again and had them put it as low and close to the center of abdomen as possible. I am not going to lie, or blow smoke; it sucks and I was really upset at first. Little by little it got easier and easier to the point where I hardly ever think about it anymore. One thing that's going to help A LOT is this: Get the LARGE bottle of M9 ostomy deodorizer drops, and also ask the med supply store for either a sample bottle that is small enough to fit into a pocket or purse, or the small 1-2 oz bottle. It's cheaper that way and you can refill from the big bottle. The big bottle costs about $27, but my insurance covers it and it lasts for a month or more. Totally worth every penny. Emptying an ielostomy pouch is very smelly, and it's hard to go out and be social when worrying about the smell. The M9 is a miracle, it kills probably 99% of the odor. PM me with more questions as I am sure you have a million more and good luck to you.

hi for starters why are you going to have an ileostomy for i had a total colectomy 6 years ago for ulcerative colitis and have never looked back im so well now before i had no life that didnt revolve around a toilet ive a stoma and a bag it has its ups and downs more ups than downs i wholly reccomend any one to go ahead have it done if you want your life back